


Back to School

by Silverilly



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Anxiety, Canon Compliant, Collection: Purimgifts Day 1, Friendship, Gen, Hope, after the war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:05:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silverilly/pseuds/Silverilly
Summary: She didn’t have to take the train. For the first time, Hermione was going to be at Hogwarts without Harry and Ron.





	Back to School

**Author's Note:**

  * For [honeymink](https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeymink/gifts).



She didn’t have to take the train.

As the car pulled into King’s Cross, Hermione fought back the butterflies that swept through her stomach. After so many years, it was almost refreshing to know that the first day of school could still make her feel deliciously nervous—anxious and excited and curious, all at once, for what the next year would bring—but the anxiety was greater this time around than it had been since… well, since her first year at Hogwarts. After all, every year after that first one, she’d had Harry and Ron to lean on. This time, she would be boarding the train that she didn’t have to take, and they would be left behind.

“Hermione?”

The dreamy voice was just pressing enough to capture her attention. Hermione blinked, taking in the sight of Luna Lovegood and remembering with some comfort that at the very least, she was not entirely alone. “Mm?”

“You looked like a wrackspurt had you. Are you all right?”

“There’s no such thing as—” Catching Ginny’s eye, Hermione stopped herself. Anxiety or no, now was not the time to be bickering with Luna over her bizarre delusions. “It’s nothing,” she amended. “Just… hard to believe we’re here.”

“It’s a long train ride to Hogwarts,” said Molly. “Best not be getting tired just yet!”

Hermione nodded. “You’re right.”

The group ejected itself from the car, a collection of people that should have been far too large for it: Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville, Molly, Arthur, George, and even baby Teddy. There were so many of them, and yet the emptiness of who should have been there gnawed at her heart. It wasn’t only those who were dead; Hermione still didn’t feel safe enough to restore her parents’ memories, and so they remained blissfully ignorant of her in Australia. She wished they were here to see her off on the unnecessary train.

 _Someday_ , she reminded herself. Someday, she would bring them back to her life—if they ever wanted her there again.

The party strode easily into the train station, making its way to the barrier between platforms nine and ten with the ease of a group that had done it more times than anyone could count. There was little fanfare as they crossed over into the platform, the Hogwarts Express already waiting in a brilliant splash of scarlet. Around them, nervous first-years stuck a little closer to their parents than usual, while older students seemed more solemn than those of Hermione’s youth. Of course, most of them had been at Hogwarts in the previous year—save for the muggleborns, who had primarily hidden from the wizarding world entirely to keep themselves safe. It was no wonder Hogwarts seemed a little less safe this year, even for the youngest of them all. That was part of the reason Hermione had been so determined to come back; she had to do her part to make this world safe again.

It was for the future.

She hugged Arthur and Molly first. The older woman’s embrace was a little harder than usual, a little longer, and Hermione returned it wholly. George pulled her into an awkward side-hug, one that reminded her he wasn’t usually the type to do anything of the sort, but that he seemed to be trying his hardest to fill a terrible hole these days. Neville was easier, and Teddy did little more than turn a bit orange as she kissed his cheek.

Then there was Harry and Ron. In the future, she would not remember much of what they said—only the longing that etched into her heart as she let go of each of them, and Ron’s final words in her ear.

 _Go ace it, know-it-all_.

It felt like it lasted an eternity, yet it wasn’t long enough. As she boarded the train, she found it impossible to tear her eyes away from those she’d left behind.

Ginny touched her arm. “Let’s find a compartment.”

The three of them, three young women who were surely too old to be going to school, found a space for themselves on the train that seemed too small for them. And yet, as Ginny curled up against a window, unwrapping a roast beef sandwich, Hermione was reminded of a much older, much wearier man, fast asleep and all alone on a train that had brought him to a place where none of his best friends would greet him.

It was a new school year, and she was alone—but she wasn’t, really. Luna leaned against her, head on her shoulder, and already the excitement for this new year was beginning to overpower her fears.

She belonged on this train, on her way to a new adventure.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, honeymink! The next two days are going to be somewhat related to this one, so I hope these all work for you! It was good to be writing HP fic again.


End file.
